


As Opposed to White Rosebuds

by Daydreaming_Chimera



Series: Drabbling in the Dark [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Because she declared war and everyone left for the Kingdom, But I'm just too long winded for drabbles TwT, But she and him are having a falling out, Edelgard is sad that no one showed up for her birthday (except Hubert), Every Beagle but Caspar got recruited, Except Caspar because of family reasons, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Flower Crowns, Fluff and Angst, Friendship Abandonment Issues, I tried to keep this short and sweet, I'm sorry I love him too but this is based off of my first run, Mentioned Black Eagles Students (Fire Emblem), Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Prompt Fic, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24941023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daydreaming_Chimera/pseuds/Daydreaming_Chimera
Summary: "White isn’t a color present in our future, anyway. Red, on the other hand, will be no matter what. Either on our banner, flying proudly above the whole of Fodlan, or on the ground as Kingdom spears pierce us.”Edelgard realizes that she's beginning to lose her war against the Kingdom Army, and as such savors her moments of respite by appreciating the one person who stood by her in solidarity all these years, and just for him, she decides to partake in a tradition she once found foolish with her own minor twist to it.For the Felannie Server drabble prompt: "Garland Moon"
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Drabbling in the Dark [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780903
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14
Collections: Those Who Drabble in the Dark





	As Opposed to White Rosebuds

**Author's Note:**

> Evening! Today a very lovely drabble prompt was dropped in the Felannie Server and I couldn't resist writing it right away~  
> It was between this and Cysithea, but I eventually decided on doing some Edelbert of all things~ (thank you roxyryoko for pushing me in that direction XD) (also, for those who were wondering, the Cysithea fic would've been Cyril having a vague idea of how Garland Moon works, but gets a lot of the details on said tradition wrong, and he gives Lysithea a flower crown of the wrong kinds of flowers and emphasized by how the girl is supposed to give the guy the garland, but Lysithea's too "ADHISUDHFSI" to get him on details because of implications that he might like her (back))  
> It's strange, I'm not a fan of either Edelgard or Hubert individually (sorry!), but I do love them as antagonists and as a pairing. Them being sympathetic villains together is such a fun dynamic, but at the same time they do have their fair share of angst, especially in non CF routes because at some point they are going to know that they're in a corner and likely won't see their mutual ambitions come to pass, which is also precisely why I wrote this fic: I feel not enough fics explore this and usually just have them in a CF setting.  
> That and Garland Moon being near the end of the Post-Timeskip storyline, in addition to it being the month Edel's birthday takes place, was really the cherry on top for making this prompt about them and really nudging me to make this.  
> Finally, I'd like to thank Kaerra for once again being my test reader and helping me fine tune this.  
> Anyway, hope you like it!

She’d rung the bell in her office, as she did frequently, and returned to her seat, waiting. She knew it wouldn’t be long, he’d never dally.  
  
Maybe it was a bit inane to summon him for something as unimportant as traditions she’d normally roll her eyes at, but with the clock counting down, and only one person left that she could truly trust…well, she could expend her dignity just this once.  
  


* * *

  
The hallways were always too quiet, too empty for their own good.  
  
No guard or servant was present, most had been drafted and were now deployed alongside those who withdrew from Fhirdiad to crush the Alliance once and for all. It was only her, the polished floors, the red carpets and Imperial banners, and arrangements of the finest flowers she’d ever seen artfully perched on each windowsill and display table.  
  
Edelgard didn’t have to be a prophet to know that her time was running out. Supplies for her troops were exhausted, allies had been dropping like flies, even her own citizens had begun to grumble when but months ago they sang her praises, and no doubt any day now the Faerghan Resistance would be coming for her head -so eloquently put by her stepbrother on the red fields of Gronder- if they were successful in defending the Alliance (information Hubert so deftly intercepted). However, her army, weary as it was, would have to fight on, for a future reborn in fire.  
  
Suddenly, that future was fading from possibility, loath as she was -even more than the idea of death- to even consider it.  
  
As such, in the meantime, every moment of respite was invaluable, however quiet it was.  
  
Mere days after her birthday, the noises of cheering and chatter were replaced by the sole sound click of Edelgard’s own heels against the floor of the Imperial Keep. A grim reminder that her path wasn’t only a bloody one, but a lonely one. Pacing down the hallway glancing at the two-headed eagle of her coat of arms out of her peripheral vision on one end, arrangements of various red flowers on the other, dahlias to tulips to everything in between so long as it was crimson in color, those footsteps of hers echoed, almost too loudly.  
  
She had no regrets, and her face remained expressionless, but something in the Edelgard felt…bittersweet, perhaps? Nostalgic? Whatever the word she was looking for was, maybe in another life all of them would have been by her side on the day of her twenty-fourth year. Maybe they would have celebrated alongside her the same way they had five years ago. Hubert making sure that everyone knew it was her birthday, and it would be in their best interest to at least provide her a gift (lest they regret it, whether he was jesting or not Edelgard did reprimand him to not pressure people so), Dorothea belting out the traditional song with gusto to hail her future leader’s personal new year, Bernadetta having been coaxed to actually prepare pastries for her (by her classmates, anyhow). Caspar had gifted her a sleek axe optimal for one-hit victories, Petra a scarf (or an attempt at one) made from weasel hide that she had hunted and fashioned herself, Linhardt a book on the wonders of positive thinking (he dryly commented how “she could stand to use it”, had the book not actually been fairly effective she would’ve personally wiped that facetious smile from his face), and even Ferdinand of all people gave her a tin of high-quality bergamot tea.  
  
It was a good day. They all laughed back then. But now, they had left her, one by one. First Ferdinand when she and Jeritza had acquired Cethleann, then Petra when the Battle of the Eagle and Lion was announced, then Bernadetta shortly after, then Dorothea after Kronya's little stunt, and finally Linhardt almost immediately after she had declared war on those lizards. Those old friends of hers stayed with the kingdom come her war declaration...left her...betrayed her...as they would never truly understand her, never truly see eye to eye with her, never see the truth of what the world needed. The only ones who remained by her side were Caspar (even then, he had only remained in the Empire due to a lack of desire to potentially cross blades with his father; he never tried to reach out to her once the war had begun, any letters he had sent were only official business and during war councils he kept surprisingly quiet) and, naturally, Hubert.  
  
Come what may, Hubert would always be there.  
  
She stopped where she stood, turning her gaze towards the nearest vase of scarlet carnations, and carefully, she paced towards them. As she absentmindedly fiddled with the stem of one of them, already somewhat nipped at by insects that had stealthily invaded her stronghold, she scoffed at herself. Just because she was sentimental didn’t mean she had to act like such a silly girl.  
  
She was the leader of the greatest country on the face of the earth, the usher of a new era, the vastest army to exist under her command, and here she was, ruminating how fond she was of this one person. Her right hand man, but still, one grain of sand in the grand scheme of things.  
  
So ruthless but so…gentle. An odd combination of words to describe a man who had hunted down all the Imperial nobles and minions of those reptiles she wished to be rid of, but apt, if she did say so, herself.  
  
Deadly and not conventionally attractive…but he made up for it.  
  
Loyal, refined, intelligent, reliable, and had his own unique sense of humor.  
  
How lucky was she to have him practically joined at her hip, she mused with the edges of her lips curling into a slight smile.  
  
As she spun the flower ever so slightly, Edelgard inaudibly laughed at herself, maybe out of chiding herself, maybe ironically. Whatever the case was, perhaps with the climax of her five-year struggle coming to a conclusion, whether it ended in her red blood being spilled onto the ground or that of her foes, she could afford to be a bit silly while she still had time.  
  
And so, she plucked the carnation from it’s vase, and another, and a few more, and reminded herself to find some sort of wire or whatever base she could use for a tradition she had found childish and ridiculous up until today. It was the appropriate month, after all.  
  


* * *

  
She’d summoned for him, and she knew he’d come. He always came. No matter how trivial or dire her need, he always came.  
  
It was foolish of her, really, but as she idly spun the cerise laurel on her desk with her finger, she found she didn’t really care.  
  
As expected, he warped into her office, his favorite method of travel. He smiled at her and dipped his head in respect, one arm behind his back and the other closed in a fist over his chest.  
  
“Good evening, Your Majesty. What is it that you need?” Hubert queried in that hushed, snakelike voice he put on as a force of habit. Honestly, the way he’d feign being a monster to intimidate her rivals…it was rather endearing.  
  
“Hubert,” Edelgard greeted calmly, normally, routinely, folding her hands on her desk (if he saw the garland due to her actions indirectly bringing it within his line of sight, she cared not) and staring him dead in the eye. “Are you well?”  
  
Hubert paused, face turning to the side cautiously, betraying little as confusion flickered in his eyes. “An abrupt question, Your Majesty.”  
  
“Spare me the formalities, please, I simply wanted to know.”  
  
The man turned his face back fully towards her, though it was still evident, at least somewhat, that he was a bit muddled. “I am fine. And you, Y-… Lady Edelgard?”  
  
It was an attempt, she had to give him that. She had to suppress a snicker, even, at his trying to be casual.  
  
Hubert was not a casual man, as it were, but he wouldn’t be Hubert without his constant stately behavior.  
  
“Likewise. Pressured, but much the same.” She had to admit, however, with Thales’ departure to subdue the Alliance and ergo his presence absent from her life, the pressure was less. Maybe with any luck he wouldn’t return, but if he fell, then it meant she was likely next. At this, she lightly sighed and stood up, pushing her chair in and slowly pacing around her workstation, tracing the edges with her fingertips.  
  
“We don’t have much time left, you know.” Edelgard hummed solemnly. “You know what will happen if the Alliance suppression fails.”  
  
Hubert clicked his tongue and looked down, folding his hands behind his back. “The Kingdom will turn their swords towards Enbarr, yes.”  
  
“I have no intention of losing this war,” she stated in a matter-of-fact fashion. “Even to my last breath I shall refuse surrender. I know you share my sentiments on such matters, but regardless of whether we win or lose, perhaps whatever repose we can come across we ought to take.”  
  
Hubert lifted his head back up and nodded his head cooly. “As you wish, Lady Edelgard.”  
  
A slight chuckle escaped the emperor’s lips, thankful to have such a delightful second-in-command.  
  
“With that in mind, I hope you don’t mind that this is the wrong color, but…” she picked up the wreath woven of crimson carnations from her desk and approached Hubert placidly, the grin on her face growing. He looked quite dashing in red, she deigned.  
  
“My lady-” Hubert nearly protested as Edelgard gingerly perched the sangria garland atop his head. She smirked as his expression grew more and more befuddled, maybe even a bit bashful.  
  
_What a charmer_ , she thought.  
  
“It was a rather spur of the moment craft of mine made from flowers around the keep, and I am typically not for tradition, but it _is_ Garland Moon, after all. White isn’t a color present in our future, anyway.” Edelgard continued, adjusting the floral crown so it sat symmetrically upon her dear subordinate’s cranium. “Red, on the other hand, will be no matter what. Either on our banner, flying proudly above the whole of Fodlan, or on the ground as Kingdom spears pierce us.”  
  
Much to her delight, not a feeling she had often, Hubert cracked a rare smile of his own. “Waxing poetic comes naturally to you, Lady Edelgard.”  
  
The emperor blinked slowly, uncharacteristically delicately, and her smile softened. It was a curious thing, that such a cold man, equally cold as she could be, could warm her heart. Her hands drifted down, fingers grazing his cheekbones, before she held his face in her hands.  
  
She savored the rare, tender countenance that washed over his face. For all she knew, this would be one of the last times she’d see it.  
  
“My thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you kindly for reading! Hope you enjoyed!  
> It was strange getting into Edelgard's headspace, I tried making her stoic and stern (and a tad arrogant/focused on herself) but still adding that dash of loneliness and sadness, but I'm worried I focused too much on the last part? I usually tend to bring the insecurities of the characters I write about to the forefront for some reason.  
> Oh, and don't worry too much about Caspar. I wasn't able to save him in my first run, but rest assured I bent over backwards to spare him. I like to think, post-war, he just became a wandering mercenary. :)  
> Anyway, God bless, and have a great day!


End file.
